The way Jonathan Lucroy has handled himself behind the plate for the Milwaukee Brewers, it would be easy to conclude that he's a natural-born catcher.

Truth be told, Lucroy is more self-made than anything.

Growing up in Umatilla, Fla., Lucroy was around 10 years old and playing Little League when his father, Steve, asked him perhaps the most important question he's ever been asked.

"Kids that age are scared of the baseball," Lucroy recounted recently. "He asked me, 'Jonathan, do you want to start catching?' And I said, 'Yeah.' I ended up being the only one that would go back there and catch because everybody else was scared to get hit, and I wasn't.

"So he put me back there, and that became my primary position. And it was really the only one I was ever any good at. I stayed there because I couldn't do anything else."

Good thing for the once catching-poor Brewers, who, less than five years after drafting Lucroy in the third round, now appear to have a burgeoning star on their hands.

Lucroy, in his third season with Milwaukee, closed out the Brewers' three-game series with the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday ranked fifth in the National League in hitting at .349 and led the major leagues with a scorching .531 average with runners in scoring position.

Throw in his steadily improving defense, a great rapport with Milwaukee's pitching staff and a work ethic that belies his 25 years, and it's no wonder the team moved so quickly to sign him to a lucrative contract extension in late March.

The Brewers now control Lucroy through the 2017 season if they so choose at what could wind up being a bargain price of $13 million.

"To know we have someone who's going to be here for a while is real important to us in putting a ballclub together year after year," general manager Doug Melvin said at the time. "He's got a chance to grow and get better and better each year."

Steady rise

It's been a meteoric rise for Lucroy, who will be just four days past the two-year anniversary of his big-league debut as the Brewers open a seven-game West Coast trip Friday in Arizona.

From those days in Little League learning the basics of catching, Lucroy advanced to Umatilla High School. His father, a former third baseman who had had some pro tryouts, threw him "hundreds of thousands of rounds" of batting practice, Lucroy estimated.

Lucroy also played on a traveling team based in Orlando but never caught the attention of any of the big-time, in-state schools like the University of Florida, Florida State or Miami. His lone scholarship offer of note came from Louisiana-Lafayette.

"In Florida, there's a real deep talent pool," Lucroy said. "A lot of the bigger schools there go after the big names, whereas someone like me, I wasn't really a big-name player. I was from a small school, I didn't play against real good high-school teams. We were OK.

"For the most part, I kind of flew under the radar, I guess."

Lucroy put together three solid years for the Ragin' Cajuns, earning first team all-Sun Belt honors as a junior in 2007 before deciding to turn pro. The Brewers' first-round pick that year was Matt LaPorta, a high-profile slugger out of Florida. Lucroy was their second pick, coming in the third round, and they gave him a $340,000 bonus to sign.

"The money thing was the biggest factor," he said. "I thought I was ready to leave as far as starting a new stage in my career. It ended up working out pretty good."

Blueprint for others

Lucroy immediately got to work, playing 61 games that year in rookie ball for Class A Helena and hitting .342. He split 2008 between Class A West Virginia and Brevard County, combining to hit around .300 with 20 home runs and 77 runs batted in.

He spent all of 2009 at Class AA Huntsville as well as the first 10 games of 2010, where after hitting .452 he jumped to Class AAA Nashville. Lucroy spent just 21 games there before getting the call to the majors after Gregg Zaun was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.

From college to the big leagues in less than three years.

Granted, it helped that Lucroy played a position of great need. But it has also served as an example within the organization of what can happen to a young player who signs quickly, works hard and remains focused on the big picture.

"I think the sooner you can get in the system and get acclimated, the better off you are," said Lucroy, who entered 2010 ranked as the Brewers' fifth-best prospect by Baseball America. "It worked for me that way. It might not work for every guy. I think you've got some guys that are really, really freaks of nature - talented guys that can kind of jump fast.

"But for me, I had to sign soon so I could get to work and get better."

Lucroy started 74 games that year, hitting .253 with four homers and 26 RBI on a team that was done in by a lack of starting pitching.

That all changed in 2011, with the additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. Lucroy entered spring training as the projected starter but missed almost all of camp after breaking a finger on his throwing hand during a drill.

He missed the first 10 games of the season, but returned to play in 136 (114 starts) and hit .265 with 12 homers and 59 RBI on a team that fell just short of its second-ever World Series appearance. Just as important, Milwaukee pitchers put up a cumulative 3.63 earned-run average with him behind the plate and went 68-46 when he started.

This year, Lucroy has been one of the few bright spots on a Brewers team that's been decimated by injuries en route to a disappointing 18-26 record.

All-star candidate?

He has five homers and 29 RBI in addition to his gaudy batting average, putting him in the conversation for an All-Star Game appearance at a position that also features Philadelphia's Carlos Ruiz, San Francisco's Buster Posey and Los Angeles' A.J. Ellis.

That talk only intensified after he bashed two homers, including a grand slam, and tied a franchise record with seven RBI in a 16-4 win over Minnesota on Sunday. He hit .429 on the Brewers' just-completed six-game home stand with three homers and 10 RBI.

Lucroy, one of the Brewers' most affable players, is still trying to wrap his head around it all.

While he'd prefer to spend more time with his wife, Sarah, and his daughter, Ellia, or maybe squeeze in some more fishing or hunting, it's becoming clear that he'd better get used to the increased glare of the spotlight.

All that hard work is finally paying off.

"I don't like a lot of attention, man, I'll be honest with you," he said. "I'm not as bad as Zack (Greinke). I'll represent the Brewers any way I can, but that's all I'm representing. For me, it's about the team. It's about that - it's not about me or you or anybody else."

By the numbers

.531 Lucroy's batting average with runners in scoring position.

7 RBI for Lucroy in a 16-4 win over Minnesota, tying a Brewers record.

Stay up to date on the Milwaukee Brewers wherever you are with "Milwaukee Baseball," the Journal Sentinel's mobile site for smartphones. Also available in both the Apple and Google Play app stores. Just search "Journal Sentinel baseball."Read more